Hi Katy, My question is for Simon. I know he doesn’t often prefer to comment on the meaning of his lyrics so I won’t ask him that type of question. I am a particular fan of his more esoteric work such as Lady Ice and New Religion. I was wondering if he would care to share any especially important literary or poetic influence from the early period when he started writing lyrics such as Sound of Thunder etc. A lot of fans are fascinated by those early days of Duran — in this case Simon’s early lyrics and what was inspiring him at the time. Thanks, Ben

 Hey Ben, it’s really difficult to put my finger on any one thing that influenced me and my early work. I think I was a bit of an ideas magpie; I read a lot of books, particularly science fiction, I know that Frank Herbert’s forst three “Dune” novels were of great inspiration to me. But also others; Patti Smith comes to mind, Jim Morrison – hence Hungry like The Wolf. Apart from that … poets? Not really. Well there is Richard Middleton and On a Dead Child. S